It might have been hard to believe – in a good way – when the show first debuted, but The League is entering its seventh (and final) season. Back in 2009 when it premiered, the idea of a sitcom revolving around fantasy football was a shaky construct. In instances like this, the only way to make it work is to have an incredibly gifted cast that could make adjustable-rate mortgages funny, and show creators (and real-life husband and wife) Jeff and Jackie Schaffer were blessed with arguably the best ensemble they could have possibly asked for.
All this time later, while the show has gotten progressively more absurd, at its base it’s still the same – a bunch of friends taking a fantasy league way too seriously, and as we’ve seen over the past seven years, plenty of people do that.
Uproxx Sports had the chance to speak with Steve Rannazzisi, who plays Kevin, about the show’s final season, Jason Mantzoukas’ (Rafi’s) ridiculous laugh, what it’s like to be constantly asked for fantasy advice, and more.
Martin Rickman: It’s the last season coming up. What should we expect? Is it bittersweet knowing the show is coming down to those last episodes?
Steve Rannazzisi: It is sort of bittersweet because everyone I’ve worked with on this show has gotten along real well since day one. Seven years later, we still make each other laugh every single day on set, take after take. I will miss going to work and hanging out with those guys every day. All good things come to an end. But we’ve got some great players on the show this year. Our cold opening with Marshawn Lynch is just awesome. We’ve got Rafi back. Seth Rogen came back. Ike Barinholtz is back as Frank “The Body” Gibiatti. We’re psyched about the plans for him.
I’ve wondered about this for a couple years now with the show. How do you balance the different styles that you have, between Jon Lajoie, Jason, Mark Duplass, Paul Scheer, Katie Asleton, and Nick Kroll? It seems like everyone brings different beats to the table. With all the different deliveries and approaches, it’d be hard for me not to break.
That’s what’s funny. When we break sometimes, you tell yourself don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh. But that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to make you laugh at home, but we’re just not allowed to laugh while we’re doing this, which is very difficult. It’s a tough thing to do, especially when you have the perfect storm, which is a character like Rafi, who is completely reprehensible, a horrible human being with no boundaries or limitations, and you have a brilliant improviser like Jason, who is able to just say whatever wants and say the quickest, funniest thing that comes to his mind, it’s usually a devastatingly funny thing that makes everyone laugh.
You have to try and not to laugh, but in the next take, he’ll say something even more funny and different. Those are the most fun times we have on set. Just cracking each other up. Blending the styles is kind of like a band. Katie and I are kind of like the eyes into the world of these people. Without us, people would be like, “Who are these people hanging out together?” We’re kind of like the normal world, and these guys are all placed around us, and it’s hilarious.
How do you explain Jason’s laugh? The closest thing I’ve been able to get to it is when one of my coworkers (Danger Guerrero) calls it a “wheeze laugh.” The second he starts getting into that, it’s impossible not to lose it.
It’s tremendous. His laugh is infective. When you make him laugh, especially because he’s coming at it as Rafi, that means you’ve laid a really devastatingly funny blow. It takes a lot to break him from that character.
Was there ever a concern as you’ve gotten going that you guys got too absurd out of the first couple seasons? Things kept building and building. Or is it more that you’re trusting your audience, and these situations are all just coming to a hilt?
Yeah. We tried some stuff, and some stuff worked and some stuff didn’t. But I remember when we first introduced the Rafi character, it was a visceral … reaction. I would say 90 percent of the people I spoke to in stand-up and in the streets and stuff were like, “Dude, you’ve got to get rid of that guy. That guy’s crazy. What’s his role?” Now, I would say it’s pretty much the reverse. 90 percent are positive about him because he’s come so far. He’s justified the role over the past couple years, and he’s now, he’s become sort of a family member, a crazy family member you want to see incarcerated but (who) probably never will be.
Most of the storylines seem to start from a kernel of truth. That’s something I think people can kind of latch onto, gravitate towards, and then they’re blown out to whatever level or degree that they are. Where does that inspiration come from? Is that a writer’s thing? Is that something you kick around and concept?
We start somewhere, we bring the situations – what could be the next thing, let’s try to beat that, let’s try to top that. And we try to go out on all the commercial breaks with a moment of, “I can’t believe they just did that.” Then we come back from the commercial and we’re right back in the world again. We try and top what we just did, advance the story, and push the narrative forward. For us it’s always a game of is that funny, what is the funniest thing we can get done, and let’s do it.
Who’s the best player you ever had on set? Who did the best job over the past seven years?
To be honest with you, and this is not a political answer, we’ve never had a situation where we’ve had someone come on set football-player wise, and we’ve thought, “Oh, we’re in trouble.” It’s been the exact opposite where we think maybe we don’t know how this going to be, but let’s see what happens.
Take Jay Cutler, who everybody loves to hate. He’s been on the show and he was the nicest guy ever. He was reluctant to be there because his wife is a celebrity, and we asked her to do the show and he was the first person she identified when we talked about storylines. He was gracious enough to do it and a joy to be around on set. He was funny and self-deprecating. A guy like that who gets a bad reputation in the media. A guy like Marshawn, who gets a bad reputation in the media. Sometimes, it’s no offense to you, but they don’t want to talk to you guys. They just want to go about their lives and not take themselves too seriously. They want to make the joke what they want to make the joke. Judging a book by its cover is tough to do.
That being said, J.J. Watt is going to take over the world someday. That guy is uber-talented. He’s going to host SNL. He’s going to be the next Derek Jeter or Peyton Manning.
Last week I saw rumors of a movie, or something else, after the show comes to an end. Any time a movie gets brought up, that could mean Netflix, or a short series somewhere. Is this something you’d be on board with down the road? Is The League ending the way it should end?
Look, however they want to end it, I’m down with that. If it’s this year, and we’ll walk away and that’s it, great. If we do a movie in a couple years, great. To me it’s like I’ve had the best experience with this show, and if the people I’m doing the show with are on board to do something else, whether it be more episodes or a movie or whatever, I’m down. This experience, we all kind of started together and built together. We grew as actors and as friends. These guys, I love working with, and I’d do it at the drop of the hat.
Do you have a favorite episode or one that stands out over the years?
I love the McGibblets episode. That’s something dumb that you throw out there, and you don’t know what it’s going to be. Is this going to be an episode? Is it going to be a throwaway that you have? Seven years later, I get approached by people with tattoos of Mr. McGibblets on various body parts, and I say to myself it’s crazy that this thing we created out of our minds people now have placed on their body for the rest of their lives. It’s a strange thing to be a part of, but McGibblets to me is a great episode.
And the time we were in Kevin’s garage, with myself, Paul and Nick. It was one of the most fun experiences we’ve ever had. We laughed so hard. Any question we have for Paul as Andre. He takes it with a grain of salt, turns it around, and makes it hilarious. That’s the essence of our show.
It seems like those Buffalo Wild Wings commercials really resonated with people back in March during the tournament. What was the approach to the ones coming into football season this time around? What do you think is going to happen with these ones?
I was super excited about the March spots because the agent and the client pitched finding five specific moments during the NCAA Tournament. That was really interesting. It was almost like we’re watching a live event and a live commercial happening. It feels real and it feels authentic. But this time around, because there’s so much competition and noise around football, it’s really hard to stand out. We took this approach where we’re really talking about the experiences you can have at Buffalo Wild Wings, how you can be fantasy-football rich there. You have everything, the screens, Wi-Fi, wings, beer, whether you’re drafting or watching games there.
Do you ever get people asking for tips in general about fantasy football? Does that ever get old?
All the time. Yes, and yes. [Laughs.] Yes I do, and yes it does. It doesn’t get old because it means people like the show, but it gets old because I don’t know what the answer is. I’m not an expert. I play a guy on television who is fascinated with fantasy football. I enjoy it as well in real life, but I wouldn’t go over to a random stranger and ask him if I need a root canal. I’d go to a dentist. I don’t think there’s a such thing as a fantasy-football expert, but I’m certainly not that person if there is. I give people my honest opinion and I ask them not to hurt my family when I’m wrong.
